Strategy in Practice: A Practitioner's Guide to Strategic Thinking, 3rd Edition

Chapter 2Strategic Thinking

The most serious mistakes are not being made as a result of wrong answers. The truly dangerous thing is asking the wrong questions.

—Peter F. Drucker

In this Chapter, We:

• introduce the concept of strategic thinking in the strategy process and the critical role of strategic questions in strategic thinking;
• explore strategic challenges and how they are triggered by events in the firm's external environment, factors internal to the firm, or combinations of both;
• examine how strategic challenges are scoped and articulated to ensure they are, indeed, of strategic relevance and worthy of consideration;
• show the strategic thinking process comprising the framing of relevant issues and the derivation of strategic questions;
• reflect on the importance of articulating the “right” strategic questions, and how these are derived;
• close with a reflection on the importance of challenging assumptions and the prevailing industry logic.

What's in a question? A lot, potentially. The German theoretical physicist and philosopher Werner Heisenberg¹ argued that nature reveals itself to us by virtue of the questions we ask. Nature does not reveal itself by asking just any question; hence, it is critical that appropriate questions are asked.

Asking the “right” questions is an integral element of strategic thinking. But what, exactly, is strategic thinking? Strategic thinking has become a favorite expression in management circles; one that is increasingly being used ...